Buffalo native and world-renowned baker returns to town

Though I have yet to try one, I'm quite confident Diana
Sproveri's LOLLIBAKES gourmet cake pops are the finest dessert ever imagined,
created or consumed.

Think about it: a gourmet version of a cake ball is served
on a stick. It's portable, poppable cake! Cake at your fingertips, anytime you
want it!

Brilliant.

And yet, Sproveri, who created this pastry perfection, is
fit as can be. How does that math work?

"You know it's funny: When you're around sweets all day
long, the last thing you want to do is eat something sweet," she says, with a
laugh, in between batches of chocolate. "Trust me: You want a salad."

Fair enough.

Sproveri is bringing her LOLLIBAKES to Buffalo next
weekend, where she will serve them at Sabres goalie Ryan Miller's Steadfast
Foundation fundraiser, "Catwalk for Charity VI: Wrangling for a Cause."

"When I was talking with people from the foundation, they
wanted something that was a little different for their VIP section," Sproveri
says. "I was going to donate a box of LOLLIBAKES, and when we started talking,
it just seemed to kind of make sense that serving LOLLIBAKES in that section at
the event would be a great thing."

The Dec. 4 benefit is a homecoming for Sproveri, who grew
up in the Town of Tonawanda and graduated from Kenmore East High School and
Niagara University. Now living in Los Angeles and providing pastries for
celebrity clients (including Zachary Levi, Jennie Garth, Paris Hilton and
Katharine McPhee), Sproveri's desserts are a mainstay at Hollywood events such
as the Oscars, Emmys and Golden Globes. In the fall of 2010, she opened Diana
Sproveri Designer Bake Shop on Ventura Boulevard in Tarzana, Calif.

"I actually haven't been home in almost a decade, in
almost 10 years, and I am beyond excited," she says. "Not only to be a part of
the event, but to come home to Buffalo during the holidays. I'm thrilled!"

Moving to the West Coast was always part of Sproveri's
plan. But, in her mind, L.A. was supposed to be the place where she'd write for
television and film. The baking thing? It kind of just happened.

"It's been around my whole life," she says. "I grew up in
a family of chefs and bakers, and it was always around. I was always making
things at the holidays with my mom. My grandmother was a fantastic baker. In
fact, a lot of the recipes that I use at the shop are my grandmother's. It's
one of the things where I always did it. I would always do boxes of Christmas
cookies for friends.

"But I had come out here, and I was a TV and film writer -
and, actually, I still am from time to time - and I found that during the down
times I was having more fun baking and making desserts, and I taught myself how
to do everything. I worked my way through the Cordon Bleu pastry book, and I do
everything - from making my own caramel sauces and crème brûlées, to just
making chocolate chip cookies now."

"I started doing little catering things here and there for
parties," she says. "And because of being where we are, I ended up working for
quite a few celebrities privately. And a lot of those parties that I did were
for TV shows and films, and it just kind of started a buzz around here. But all
of the recipes that I use have their heart back in Buffalo."

Sproveri started to realize she had a knack for baking
when clients would react in the much the same way I did.

"It was when other people would taste things and see
things," she says. "I was an art major in high school and, so, I basically
tried to put a little artistic twist on everything that I did. And I would
serve things at some of these parties. The reactions from people were, just,
'I've never had anything like this before.' And, 'This tastes so good; it's so
much better than what I've had at other places.'

"It's one of those things where, when I started getting
feedback from people, that it wasn't just, 'Oh, this is good,' but they were
blown away by it.

"Cake balls have been out there for quite a few years, and
cake pops started becoming popular I want to say maybe four years ago. A woman
named Bakerella, she took cake mix and icing and mixed it together and made a
cake ball and just did it in chocolate and made little characters and things.
And I saw the idea (and, having a) chef background, I said, 'I want to make
this completely from scratch and completely gourmet.' And so I spent a good six
months, trial and error, creating cake and icing, specifically when they are
mixed together to create something, as well as other ingredients that you use
in truffles. And it just kind of grew from there."

LOLLIBAKES made its debut in typical Hollywood fashion.

"The first time I actually served them was, I was asked to
do a party for David Schwimmer from 'Friends,' " Sproveri says. "He asked for
everything on my menu. And I said, 'You know what? This is the perfect time to
give LOLLIBAKES a shot.' And I did, and they were a hit.

"Since then, I cannot stop making them. They are,
hands-down, the best sellers in the shop."

Find
Diana Sproveri and LOLLIBAKES online at http://dianasproveri.com/.
P.S., LOLLIBAKES ships nationally during the holidays (!), and a portion of the
proceeds will benefit the Steadfast Foundation.

Ryan
Miller's fundraiser, "Catwalk for Charity VI: Wrangling for a Cause," takes
place at 6 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 4, at the Town Ballroom, 681 Main St., Buffalo.
For more information, visit www.thesteadfastfoundation.com.